Implementing traceability requirements to eliminate IUU fishing beyond EU jurisdiction
(2013) JURM02 20131Department of Law
- Abstract (Swedish)
- Olagligt, orapporterat och oreglerat (IUU) fiske är ett av de största hoten mot den marina biologiska mångfalden. Problematiken går hand i hand med farhågorna kring överfiske, något som har anammats av det internationella samfundet under de senaste två decennierna. Stater har uppmanats att på egen hand eller genom gemensamma initiativ, vidta åtgärder för att bekämpa IUU-fiske. Som en utav de största aktörerna på den globala marknaden, har den Europeiska Unionen (EU) ambitionen att eliminera IUU-fisket inom sin jurisdiktion. Även den externa fiskeripolitiken är ett högprioriterat område och genom de nyligen ikraftträdda förordningarna adresseras även fiskprodukter fångad av tredje land. Eftersom EU importerar upp emot sextio procent av den... (More)
- Olagligt, orapporterat och oreglerat (IUU) fiske är ett av de största hoten mot den marina biologiska mångfalden. Problematiken går hand i hand med farhågorna kring överfiske, något som har anammats av det internationella samfundet under de senaste två decennierna. Stater har uppmanats att på egen hand eller genom gemensamma initiativ, vidta åtgärder för att bekämpa IUU-fiske. Som en utav de största aktörerna på den globala marknaden, har den Europeiska Unionen (EU) ambitionen att eliminera IUU-fisket inom sin jurisdiktion. Även den externa fiskeripolitiken är ett högprioriterat område och genom de nyligen ikraftträdda förordningarna adresseras även fiskprodukter fångad av tredje land. Eftersom EU importerar upp emot sextio procent av den fisk som konsumeras finns det numera en ambition att implementera rigorösa spårbarhetskrav för samtliga produkter på EU:s inre marknad. Spårbarhet är sedan tidigare en vedertagen åtgärd för att kontrollera livsmedelsprodukter på den Europeiska marknaden, ett verktyg som nu även har intagit en central roll i den nya EU förordningarna för att eliminera IUU-fiske.
Uppsatsen gör en grundlig analys av begreppet ”spårbarhet”, här med målsättningen att adressera problematiken kring IUU-fiske både inom och utanför EU:s jurisdiktion. Detta omfattar även en analys av implementering av fångstintyg, ett verktyg som är tänkt att utgöra en av de viktigaste kontrollpunkterna för spårbarhet av produkter från tredje lands fiskefartyg. EU:s IUU-förordning har ambitionen att säkra full spårbarhet från ”nät till tallrik” och en av de primära byggstenarna är ett fångstcertifikatsystem, för att säkerställa spårbarhet för alla produkter på marknaden. Därmed har spårbarhetskraven blivit ett centralt verktyg för att definiera lagligheten på ursprunget av importerade fiskprodukter. Uppsatsens juridiska frågeställningar tar därmed sin utgångspunkt i den tidigare oro som har lyfts kring spårbarhetskraven och dessa förordningars förenlighet med den internationella handelsrätten. Denna gång med fokus på EU:s medlemsstaters genomförande och dess förhållande till handelsrättens reglering och praxis. Analysen i denna uppsats inkluderar även insikter om implementeringen och riskerna kring fångstintyg på nationell nivå. Analysen visar att avsaknaden av en enhetlig implementering av kontrollsystemet för både europeiskt fångade och importerade produkter kan innebära en ett hinder som strider mot den internationella handelsrätten. Trots myndighetens ambitioner tycks det finnas ett lapptäcke av ideologier, som leder till hinder för en harmoniserad implementering.
EU:s ambition om full spårbarhet kan i dess framtida implementering möjligtvis utgöra ett otillåtet handelshinder. Något som skulle kunna vara försvarbart och motiveras genom dess målsättning att skydda globala naturresurser. En möjlighet och dess förutsättningar som även analyseras för att se över möjligheten för EU att påverka IUU-fiske bortom dess jurisdiktion. (Less) - Abstract
- Illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing activities are currently considered to be one of the largest threats to the conservation of marine living resources and biodiversity. Thus, the international community have for the last two decades called upon States to take measures, individually or jointly, to combat IUU fishing. As an important actor on the global market, the European Union (EU) has the ambition to eliminate the IUU fishing activities within the jurisdiction of its wide compound of nations. The external fisheries policy is a high-defined topic and the recently established regulations address the import of fishery products from third countries. As the EU tends to import up to sixty per cent of the consumed fishery... (More)
- Illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing activities are currently considered to be one of the largest threats to the conservation of marine living resources and biodiversity. Thus, the international community have for the last two decades called upon States to take measures, individually or jointly, to combat IUU fishing. As an important actor on the global market, the European Union (EU) has the ambition to eliminate the IUU fishing activities within the jurisdiction of its wide compound of nations. The external fisheries policy is a high-defined topic and the recently established regulations address the import of fishery products from third countries. As the EU tends to import up to sixty per cent of the consumed fishery products, the EU seeks to decree rigorous traceability requirements for the products entering upon its market. Traceability has been an accepted measure to control the movement of food and feed within the European market for the past decade, it now holds a central role in the new EU Regulations.
The thesis provides for an analysis of the concept of traceability with the objective to eliminate IUU fishing activities within as well as beyond EU jurisdiction. This includes an analysis of the current implementation of the catch certificates, which is deemed as the main control point of the traceability and thus the activities of third country fishing vessels. The EU IUU Regulation seeks to ensure full traceability from “net to plate” and one of the crucial elements is a catch certification scheme, which intends to ensure traceability of all marine fisheries products entering the European internal market and supplied by the EU. Consequently, the traceability requirements have become the central element in order to assure the legal origin of the imported fish products. The legal questions takes its standing point I the concerns that the EU IUU Regulation’s incompatibility with international trade provisions. However, this analysis takes the focus back to the implementation in the EU Member States and its relationship with the international trade regulation. Other conclusions, that were not intended or anticipated, address the novel system of the catch certificates and the vast risk of non-unitary implementation of the main control point of imported products. Despite the efforts of the national authorities, the catch certificate system demonstrates a patchwork of ideologies, which could be considered as a hindrance of the harmonization of the EU Regulations.
The analysis will demonstrate that the rigorous scope of such traceability requirements could possible constitute an inadmissible barrier to trade, if not implemented uniformly. It also elaborates on the possibilities for the EU, in case of dispute, to apply an exemption based on the protection of environment and the marine resources presented by the international trade regulation. With the linkage between traceability requirements and the protection of the shared marine resources, the analysis offers the EU a feasible attempt to be able to eliminate IUU fishing beyond its jurisdiction. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/3802455
- author
- Lenbäck, Cecilia LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- JURM02 20131
- year
- 2013
- type
- H3 - Professional qualifications (4 Years - )
- subject
- keywords
- EU law Public International Law
- language
- English
- id
- 3802455
- date added to LUP
- 2013-09-03 08:49:45
- date last changed
- 2013-09-03 08:49:45
@misc{3802455,
abstract = {{Illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing activities are currently considered to be one of the largest threats to the conservation of marine living resources and biodiversity. Thus, the international community have for the last two decades called upon States to take measures, individually or jointly, to combat IUU fishing. As an important actor on the global market, the European Union (EU) has the ambition to eliminate the IUU fishing activities within the jurisdiction of its wide compound of nations. The external fisheries policy is a high-defined topic and the recently established regulations address the import of fishery products from third countries. As the EU tends to import up to sixty per cent of the consumed fishery products, the EU seeks to decree rigorous traceability requirements for the products entering upon its market. Traceability has been an accepted measure to control the movement of food and feed within the European market for the past decade, it now holds a central role in the new EU Regulations.
The thesis provides for an analysis of the concept of traceability with the objective to eliminate IUU fishing activities within as well as beyond EU jurisdiction. This includes an analysis of the current implementation of the catch certificates, which is deemed as the main control point of the traceability and thus the activities of third country fishing vessels. The EU IUU Regulation seeks to ensure full traceability from “net to plate” and one of the crucial elements is a catch certification scheme, which intends to ensure traceability of all marine fisheries products entering the European internal market and supplied by the EU. Consequently, the traceability requirements have become the central element in order to assure the legal origin of the imported fish products. The legal questions takes its standing point I the concerns that the EU IUU Regulation’s incompatibility with international trade provisions. However, this analysis takes the focus back to the implementation in the EU Member States and its relationship with the international trade regulation. Other conclusions, that were not intended or anticipated, address the novel system of the catch certificates and the vast risk of non-unitary implementation of the main control point of imported products. Despite the efforts of the national authorities, the catch certificate system demonstrates a patchwork of ideologies, which could be considered as a hindrance of the harmonization of the EU Regulations.
The analysis will demonstrate that the rigorous scope of such traceability requirements could possible constitute an inadmissible barrier to trade, if not implemented uniformly. It also elaborates on the possibilities for the EU, in case of dispute, to apply an exemption based on the protection of environment and the marine resources presented by the international trade regulation. With the linkage between traceability requirements and the protection of the shared marine resources, the analysis offers the EU a feasible attempt to be able to eliminate IUU fishing beyond its jurisdiction.}},
author = {{Lenbäck, Cecilia}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Implementing traceability requirements to eliminate IUU fishing beyond EU jurisdiction}},
year = {{2013}},
}